1. Cross Reference to Related Applications
The subject matter of the present application is related to the subject matter disclosed in co-pending and commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/272,056, entitled “Methods And Systems For Single Sign-On Authentication In A Multi-Vendor E-Commerce Environment And Directory-Authenticated Bank Drafts” filed on Mar. 18, 1999; Ser. No. 09/405,741, entitled “Methods And Systems For Carrying Out Directory-Authenticated Electronic Transactions Including Contingency Dependent Payments Via Secure Electronic bank Drafts” filed on Sep. 24, 1999; Ser. No. 09/490,783, entitled “eDROPSHIP: Methods And Systems For Anonymous E-Commerce Shipment” filed on Jan. 24, 2000, and Ser. No. 60/285,771 filed on Apr. 23, 2001 entitled “Methods And Systems For Carrying Out Contingency-Dependent Payments Via Secure Electronic Bank Drafts Supported By Online Letters Of Credit And/Or Online Performance Bonds”, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein in their entirety.
2. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and systems for low cost and high-speed transfers of funds between bank accounts and the accounts of buyers and sellers.
3. Description of the Related Art
Inter-bank transfers are expensive when carried out on a per-transaction basis. These costs are not significantly reduced even when the processing of such transfers is carried out on a batch basis. This is true whether the funds are transferred by clearing credit card charges or when transferring money through the ACH (Automated Clearing House) network or other networks used by financial institutions to move money and information around. Not only are inter-bank transfers expensive, but they are also slow. High cost is only one problem associated with traditional inter-bank transfers; the long delay inherent in executing such transfers is another. Although most current Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT) are usually executed in a single day, this falls far short of “Internet Time”, in which transfers of money and information must flow in real time, as transactions are executed and information exchanged.
What are needed, therefore, are methods and systems for decreasing both the cost and delay traditionally associated with the transfer of funds between banks.